This immigrant left the US for Canada. Something stood out to her at the border

Gemima Cadet took one last look around her room in Lake Worth, Florida.

She’d already given away paintings that she’d poured her heart into, and books she loved to read. But even in a vacant room with empty hangers dangling in the closet, there was still one thing left that she loved and wanted to remember: the light.

Living in Florida for more than half her life, the 32-year-old had come to know it well. The way the sun streamed through her window gave her strength on many a difficult day.

And this would be a difficult day.

Cadet and her mom were leaving their home and heading north toward an uncertain future.

It was a journey many Haitians like Cadet have made. During the first Trump administration, a road from upstate New York to Montreal became a well-known crossing point . But since then, the rules have changed significantly, and it’s much harder to make asylum claims at Canada’s border. Still, some are trying — including Haitians whose deportation protections in the US have been revoked .

“Some people … knowing fully well all the risks and all the troubles, they’re like, ‘I will give it a shot, and I will try, because I have nothing else, and I cannot go back to Haiti,’” says Fedora Mathieu, an immigration and refugee lawyer in Ottawa, Canada’s capital, whose office has fielded a growing number of calls from Haitians in the US.

For Cadet, on the day she left her Florida home back in January, it felt like she had no other choice. There had been so many ups and downs since the Trump administration first announced it was ending deportation protections for Haitians, she says, and the endless uncertainty was suffocating.

Returning to Haiti would be too dangerous, she says, and staying in the US was beginning to feel that way, too.

Some friends suggested she should wait. But Cadet found herself wondering, “How much longer do you want me to put my life on hold?”

Thierry Jean-Baptiste has been getting frantic calls for weeks from people in the US asking for help.

The recent US Supreme Court decision that cleared the way for the Trump administration to end deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of Haitians left many looking for options and unsure of where to turn.

“They’re worried. They’re stressed,” says Jean-Baptiste, coordinator of immigration and integration at the Montreal Haitian Community Office. “This is a nightmare for them.”

Major immigration raids focusing on Haitians in the US haven’t been reported. But advocates say they’re seeing an uptick in arrests , and fear is running high in communities across the US. The first deportation flight since TPS ended landed in Haiti last week with more than 160 passengers onboard, and authorities have said more flights are expected.

Eitan Abramovich/AFP/Getty Images

Clarens Siffroy/AFP/Getty Images

Many don’t think it’s safe to return to Haiti, where the UN has said violent gangs control vast swaths of the country. But when the second Trump administration announced plans to end Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, for Haitians last year, officials argued conditions in the Caribbean nation no longer warranted an extension of the protections.

“For too long, TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program despite Congress never intending it to be permanent,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a recent statement to CNN.

And experts say many Haitians hoping for a more sympathetic reception from Canada are learning that heading north is harder than it sounds.

The rules at the Canada-US border have tightened significantly in recent years amid pressures including shifting public opinion . A revised Safe Third Country Agreement between the two nations announced in 2023 requires immigrants to seek asylum in the first country where they arrive, and denies eligibility to those who’ve crossed illegally between ports of entry.

Sebastien St-Jean/AFP/Getty Images

Only some qualify for exceptions to the asylum restrictions , such as those who have close family members already living legally in Canada. In addition, a law creating new asylum eligibility requirements , including new time limits for applying, went into effect earlier this year.

“Coming to Canada is a narrow path for a small group of people who do meet an exception,” says Jenn McIntyre, clinic coordinator of the Canada-US Border Rights Clinic.

And the risks are significant for those who don’t qualify but try to cross anyway, she says.

“The consequences are not just being not let into Canada,” she says, adding that those who are returned to the US will likely then be detained and deported. “So, the stakes are really, really high.”

It wasn’t the first time Cadet had fled a country.

She says she came to the US on a visitor’s visa with her family after the 2010 earthquake. At that time, she thought it would just be a brief stay.

“I was 15-ish, and fully, like, in my head, expecting to go back to Haiti in a couple months, to come back and see my friends, see everything how I left it. … I didn’t even understand that I would never see my room again,” she says.

As conditions in Haiti worsened, Cadet ended up graduating from high school and college in the US. Recently, she’d been working as a developmental specialist, traveling to day care centers and homes across South Florida to work with children, while also studying towards a master’s degree in social work and helping to run a mental health nonprofit she co-founded.

The place she’d never expected to stay had become her home. And deciding to leave it felt different from her family’s rushed departure from Haiti.

For a month, she debated whether it was the right decision. Once she and her mom resolved to go, Cadet had goodbye dinners and gave away paintings she’d made during the pandemic, beloved books and Renaissance fair costumes to friends who she knew would love them as much as she did.

Courtesy Gemima Cadet

She took a mental picture of the light streaming through the window of her room before she left. And as she and her mom headed north, she snapped photos on her phone of their journey — her mom looking somber at a rest stop, the last Florida sign as they were leaving the state.

For most of their two-day drive, Cadet was on edge. Videos were spreading on social media of immigration crackdowns in Minneapolis and other US cities.

“It was stressful to think that we might accidentally drive into one of those situations, or end up in a hotel and wake up, and then all of a sudden ICE officers were in the same building,” she says.

As they waited in a Buffalo hotel room, she worried US immigration authorities could be in the area. It was still dark when they headed toward the border at 7 a.m.

Haitians top the list of nationalities requesting asylum at ports of entry along the Canada-US border, according to the Canada Border Services Agency.

But so far this year, refugee claims at that border are significantly lower than they were last year, according to Kelly Cameron, a spokesperson for the agency.

As of August 9, the CBSA had processed nearly 9,000 asylum applications so far this calendar year, more than 60% less than the number of applications processed at the same point last year.

And since January, nearly 900 asylum claimants have been sent back to the US after being deemed ineligible under the Safe Third Country Agreement between the two nations, Cameron said.

On its website tracking immigration trends , Canada’s government touts the steps it’s taken to “minimize unnecessary border volumes, increase information sharing, and reduce non-genuine visitors and crossings between ports of entry.”

Immigrant and human rights advocates have been pushing Canadian officials to reconsider their approach. Amnesty International argued in a recent court challenge that it’s unconstitutional to send “at-risk refugees back to danger in the U.S.”

A spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said the department cannot comment on pending litigation or speculate on future policy decisions.

“Canada has a proud humanitarian tradition and takes its international obligations regarding asylum seekers seriously,” Anahita Beladi said, noting that the Safe Third Country Agreement remains in place.

Sometimes, says McIntyre of the Canada-US Border Rights Clinic, even people in the same family can face different fates under the current system, depending on factors like whether they’ve previously applied for asylum in the US and who their so-called “anchor relatives” are in Canada.

“That’s one of the hardest conversations that we regularly have with people,” she says, “letting them know that some members of the family will be eligible to enter Canada and seek protection, and others will not.”

Arriving at the Canadian border was nerve-wracking, Cadet says, even though she’d researched the process, gone to an official port of entry and brought documentation showing she and her mom had close family members living in Ottawa.

But something instantly struck Cadet about the border authorities who processed their paperwork.

“They weren’t rolling out a red carpet or anything, or giving us special treatment, but they treated us like humans. They talked to us, and they asked for the documents and looked them over, asked us questions, but didn’t treat us as if we were criminals,” she recalls.

After about three hours, the mother and daughter were on their way to Ottawa to reunite with family together.

A few months later, Canada’s asylum rules tightened. And Cadet says she knows other Haitians in the US who now want to go to Canada but can’t find a legal pathway.

She’s relieved she and her mom made it across the border. But she says seven months after arriving in Canada, they’re still adjusting — and waiting for a decision in their asylum case.

Her mom is trying to transfer the nursing license from Florida that will allow her work in Canada. And she struggles with regrets about leaving friends and patients behind.

Cadet misses living just 10 minutes from the beach. It’s hard being so far away from the community she helped build in Florida. And it’s devastating to talk with friends in the US who are struggling with the same fear and uncertainty she fled.

But Cadet has landed a communications job, and she hopes to start an internship soon that will help her finish her graduate degree in social work. Some of her friends from Florida recently came to visit. A few brought back the books and paintings she gave them.

Seeing them again was a boost.

And there’s one big change Cadet’s noticed since that day months ago when she crossed the Canada-US border.

“Since we’ve been here, it feels like we’re not having to fight for our human right to live, to just exist and to have fair treatment,” she says.

Life in Canada, she says, is helping her see her future in a new light.

杰米玛·卡德特最后一次环顾了她在佛罗里达州莱克沃思的房间。

她已经把倾注了心血的画作和心爱的书籍都送人了。但​​即便在空荡荡的房间里，衣橱里挂着空衣架，仍然有一样东西是她热爱并想要铭记的：那就是光。

这位32岁的女子在佛罗里达州生活了超过半辈子，对这里非常熟悉。阳光透过窗户洒进来，在许多艰难的日子里给了她力量。

这将是艰难的一天。

卡迪特和她的母亲离开了家，向着未知的未来向北行进。

像卡德特这样的许多海地人都走过这条路。在特朗普第一任期内，从纽约州北部到蒙特利尔的一条公路曾是著名的过境点。但自那以后，规则发生了显著变化，在加拿大边境申请庇护变得更加困难。尽管如此，仍有一些人在尝试——其中包括一些在美国被取消遣返保护的海地人。

“有些人……明知所有的风险和麻烦，却还是会说，‘我要试一试，因为我别无选择，也不能回海地了，’”加拿大首都渥太华的移民和难民律师费多拉·马蒂厄说道。她的办公室接到了越来越多来自美国海地人的电话。

对卡迪特来说，今年一月离开佛罗里达的家那天，她感觉自己别无选择。她说，自从特朗普政府首次宣布终止对海地人的遣返保护以来，她的生活经历了太多起伏，无休止的不确定性令人窒息。

她说，返回海地太危险了，而留在美国也开始让她感到危险。

一些朋友建议她再等等。但卡迪特不禁自问：“你们到底想让我把自己的生活搁置多久？”

几周以来，蒂埃里·让-巴蒂斯特一直接到来自美国民众的紧急求助电话。

美国最高法院最近的一项裁决为特朗普政府终止对数十万海地人的驱逐保护扫清了障碍，这让许多人感到迷茫，不知所措。

“他们很担心，压力很大，”蒙特利尔海地社区办公室移民和融合协调员让-巴蒂斯特说。“这对他们来说简直是一场噩梦。”

目前尚未有针对美国境内海地人的大规模移民突袭行动的报道。但维权人士表示，他们发现逮捕人数有所上升，美国各地社区的恐慌情绪日益高涨。自临时保护身份（TPS）终止以来，首架遣返航班已于上周抵达海地，机上载有160多名乘客，当局表示预计还将有更多航班抵达。

艾坦·阿布拉莫维奇/法新社/盖蒂图片社

克拉伦斯·西弗罗伊/法新社/盖蒂图片社

许多人认为返回海地并不安全，联合国曾表示，暴力团伙控制着该国大片地区。但去年，当特朗普第二任期政府宣布计划终止海地人的临时保护身份（TPS）时，官员们辩称，这个加勒比海国家的状况已不再需要延长这种保护。

“长期以来，尽管国会从未打算让临时保护身份（TPS）成为永久性的，但它实际上却被允许发挥大赦计划的作用，”国土安全部发言人在最近向 CNN 发表的一份声明中表示。

专家表示，许多希望得到加拿大更友好接待的海地人正在逐渐意识到，北上远比想象中要困难得多。

近年来，在包括公众舆论转变在内的诸多压力下，加美边境的入境规定显著收紧。两国于2023年宣布修订《安全第三国协议》，该协议要求移民必须在抵达的第一个国家寻求庇护，并拒绝那些非法越境者申请庇护。

Sebastien St-Jean/AFP/Getty Images

只有部分人符合庇护限制的例外情况，例如那些在加拿大合法居住的近亲属。此外，一项制定了新的庇护资格要求（包括新的申请时限）的法律已于今年早些时候生效。

“对于符合例外情况的一小部分人来说，来加拿大是一条狭窄的途径，”加拿大-美国边境权利诊所的诊所协调员詹恩·麦金泰尔说。

她说，对于那些不符合入境条件却试图越境的人来说，风险是巨大的。

“后果不仅仅是无法入境加拿大，”她说道，并补充说，那些被遣返回美国的人很可能会被拘留并驱逐出境。“所以，事关重大。”

这并非卡德特第一次逃离一个国家。

她说，2010年地震后，她和家人持旅游签证来到美国。当时，她以为只是短暂停留。

“我当时大概15岁，满脑子想的都是几个月后就能回到海地，回去看看我的朋友们，看看我离开时的一切……我根本没意识到我再也见不到我的房间了，”她说。

随着海地局势恶化，卡德特最终在美国完成了高中和大学学业。最近，她一直担任发展专家，前往南佛罗里达州各地的日托中心和家庭为儿童提供服务，同时还在攻读社会工作硕士学位，并协助运营她共同创办的一家心理健康非营利组织。

她从未想过会待在那里的地方，如今却成了她的家。而决定离开这里，与她家人当年匆匆离开海地的感觉截然不同。

她犹豫了一个月，不知道这是否是正确的决定。一旦她和妈妈决定离开，卡迪特就举办了告别晚宴，并将她在疫情期间创作的画作、心爱的书籍和文艺复兴集市的服装送给了她知道会和她一样喜欢这些东西的朋友们。

承蒙杰米玛·卡德特惠允

离开前，她把房间窗户里洒进来的阳光深深地印在了脑海里。和妈妈一路向北，她用手机拍下了旅途中的点点滴滴——妈妈在休息站神情凝重，以及离开佛罗里达州时看到的最后一个佛罗里达州标志。

在为期两天的车程中，卡德​​特大部分时间都提心吊胆。社交媒体上流传着明尼阿波利斯和其他美国城市严厉打击移民的视频。

她说：“想到我们可能会不小心开车进入那种情况，或者最终住进一家酒店，醒来后发现移民执法局的官员突然出现在同一栋楼里，就让人感到压力很大。”

他们在布法罗一家酒店房间里等待时，她担心美国移民局官员可能就在附近。早上7点，他们出发前往边境时，天还黑着。

据加拿大边境服务局称，在加美边境入境口岸申请庇护的国籍中，海地人位居榜首。

但据该机构发言人凯利·卡梅伦称，今年到目前为止，该边境的难民申请数量明显低于去年同期。

截至 8 月 9 日，加拿大边境服务局 (CBSA) 今年迄今已处理了近 9,000 份庇护申请，比去年同期处理的申请数量减少了 60% 以上。

卡梅伦表示，自1月份以来，已有近900名寻求庇护者因被认为不符合两国之间的《安全第三国协议》的资格而被遣返回美国。

加拿大政府在其追踪移民趋势的网站上，大力宣传其为“最大限度地减少不必要的边境流量、增加信息共享以及减少非真实访客和入境口岸之间的过境次数”而采取的措施。

移民和人权倡导者一直在敦促加拿大官员重新考虑他们的做法。国际特赦组织在最近的一次法庭诉讼中辩称，将“处境危险的难民遣返回美国”是违宪的。

加拿大移民、难民和公民部发言人表示，该部门无法对未决诉讼发表评论，也无法对未来的政策决定进行猜测。

“加拿大有着引以为傲的人道主义传统，并认真履行其对寻求庇护者的国际义务，”阿纳希塔·贝拉迪说，并指出《安全第三国协议》仍然有效。

加拿大-美国边境权利诊所的麦金泰尔表示，有时，即使是同一家庭的人，在现行制度下也可能面临不同的命运，这取决于他们之前是否在美国申请过庇护，以及他们在加拿大的所谓“锚定亲属”是谁等因素。

“这是我们经常与人们进行的最艰难的对话之一，”她说，“我们要让他们知道，家庭中的一些成员有资格进入加拿大寻求保护，而另一些成员则没有资格。”

卡迪特说，尽管她事先研究了入境流程，去了官方入境口岸，并携带了证明她和她母亲在渥太华有近亲的文件，但抵达加拿大边境时仍然感到紧张不安。

但卡德特立刻对处理他们文件的边境官员产生了某种印象。

“他们没有铺红毯迎接我们，也没有给我们特殊待遇，但他们把我们当人看待。他们和我们交谈，要求我们出示文件并仔细查看，问了我们一些问题，但并没有把我们当成罪犯对待，”她回忆道。

大约三个小时后，母女俩踏上了前往渥太华与家人团聚的旅程。

几个月后，加拿大的庇护政策收紧了。卡德特说，她认识一些在美国的海地人，他们现在想去加拿大，但却找不到合法途径。

她和母亲终于成功越过边境，她感到如释重负。但她说，抵达加拿大七个月后，她们仍在适应新生活，并且还在等待庇护申请的裁决。

她妈妈正在努力把她在佛罗里达州的护士执照转到加拿大，这样她就可以在加拿大工作了。而她自己则因为要离开朋友和病人而感到后​​悔。

卡迪特很怀念以前住在离海滩只有十分钟路程的地方。远离她在佛罗里达一手建立起来的社区让她感到很艰难。更让她难过的是，和身在美国的朋友们交谈时，他们也正经历着和她当年逃离的同样的恐惧和不安。

但卡迪特找到了一份传播方面的工作，她希望很快能开始一份实习，以帮助她完成社会工作专业的硕士学位。她的一些佛罗里达朋友最近来看望她。有几位朋友带回了她送给他们的书和画作。

再次见到他们让我备受鼓舞。

自从几个月前她越过加拿大-美国边境以来，Cadet 注意到了一个很大的变化。

“自从我们来到这里，感觉我们不再需要为生存、为存在、为获得公平待遇而奋斗了，”她说。

她说，在加拿大的生活让她以全新的视角看待自己的未来。